Dr. Steven Bensinger’s laboratory is focused on understanding how lipid metabolism influences the growth of rapidly dividing normal and neoplastic tissues. They have recently identified a cholesterol metabolic checkpoint that regulates cell cycle progression in a wide variety of normal and cancer cells. Key ongoing studies include elucidating the regulatory networks that control lipid biosynthetic program in normal cells, and how these networks become dysregulated in cancer. Other important studies in the laboratory focus on understanding how lipid signals alter immune responses, resulting in basic immune dysfunction and autoimmune diseases.